Dialogic OD and beyond: Towards New Forms of Organisational Change - Cliff Oswick

Lunchtime Talk: Prof Cliff Oswick, 1 February

The field of Organisation Development (OD) is clearly evolved and developed over the years. The proposed talk will consider the changing nature of OD and distinguish between: traditional OD (i.e. diagnostic approaches); contemporary OD (i.e. dialogic approaches); and, emerging OD (i.e. post-dialogic approaches). It is posited that the very latest strands of OD activity are radically different to earlier incarnations in terms of style, focus and content. They are less structured and hierarchical and more ‘networked’ and ‘bottom-up’ in orientation. Moreover, and unlike diagnostic OD (which focuses on a ‘punctuated past’) or dialogic OD (which focuses on a relatively ‘predictable future’), emerging forms of OD tend to ‘unfold-in-the-present’. And, as such, they are far more dynamic in nature (i.e. emerging via spontaneous, unpredictable and improvised forms of talk and action that develop in real-time). The session will conclude with a discussion of the implications for management, organisations and society-as-a-whole, of a wave of radically different forms of OD intervention.

Transcript

1. www.cass.city.ac.uk
   Dialogic OD and Beyond: Towards New
   Forms of Organizational Change
   

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2. www.cass.city.ac.uk
   Influences on Change Approaches (based on Marshak, 2010)
   Change
   Source
   Mechanical
   Sciences
   (1900s to
   Present)
   Biological
   Sciences
   (1960s to
   Present)
   Interpretive
   Sciences
   (1980s to
   Present)
   Complexity
   Sciences
   (1990s to
   Present)
   Perspective of
   Organizations
   Determinate,
   closed systems
   Contingent,
   open systems
   Generative,
   meaning making
   systems
   Complex adaptive
   systems
   Intervention
   Focus
   Efficiency, plans,
   structure, IT,
   productivity
   Alignment,
   congruence,
   strategic plans
   Discourse,
   meaning making,
   culture, norms
   Chaos, self-
   organization,
   emergent design
   Change
   Emphasis
   Fix & Re-
   engineer
   Adapt & Re-
   position
   Reframe &
   Rename
   Flux & Emergent
   Facilitation
   

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3. www.cass.city.ac.uk
   Old (Diagnostic) OD Approaches
   Change
   Source
   Mechanical
   Sciences
   (1900s to
   Present)
   Biological
   Sciences
   (1960s to
   Present)
   Interpretive
   Sciences
   (1980s to
   Present)
   Complexity
   Sciences
   (1990s to
   Present)
   Perspective of
   Organizations
   Determinate,
   closed systems
   Contingent,
   open systems
   Generative,
   meaning making
   systems
   Complex adaptive
   systems
   Intervention
   Focus
   Efficiency, plans,
   structure, IT,
   productivity
   Alignment,
   congruence,
   strategic plans
   Discourse,
   meaning making,
   culture, norms
   Chaos, self-
   organization,
   emergent design
   Change
   Emphasis
   Fix & Re-
   engineer
   Adapt & Re-
   position
   Reframe &
   Rename
   Flux & Emergent
   Facilitation
   

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4. www.cass.city.ac.uk
   New (Dialogic) OD Approaches
   Change
   Source
   Mechanical
   Sciences
   (1900s to
   Present)
   Biological
   Sciences
   (1960s to
   Present)
   Interpretive
   Sciences
   (1980s to
   Present)
   Complexity
   Sciences
   (1990s to
   Present)
   Perspective of
   Organizations
   Determinate,
   closed systems
   Contingent,
   open systems
   Generative,
   meaning making
   systems
   Complex adaptive
   systems
   Intervention
   Focus
   Efficiency, plans,
   structure, IT,
   productivity
   Alignment,
   congruence,
   strategic plans
   Discourse,
   meaning making,
   culture, norms
   Chaos, self-
   organization,
   emergent design
   Change
   Emphasis
   Fix & Re-
   engineer
   Adapt & Re-
   position
   Reframe &
   Rename
   Flux & Emergent
   Facilitation
   

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5. www.cass.city.ac.uk
   Even Newer (Dispersed) OD Approaches
   Change
   Source
   Mechanical
   Sciences
   (1900s to
   Present)
   Biological
   Sciences
   (1960s to
   Present)
   Interpretive
   Sciences
   (1980s to
   Present)
   Complexity
   Sciences
   (1990s to
   Present)
   Perspective of
   Organizations
   Determinate,
   closed systems
   Contingent,
   open systems
   Generative,
   meaning making
   systems
   Complex adaptive
   systems
   Intervention
   Focus
   Efficiency, plans,
   structure, IT,
   productivity
   Alignment,
   congruence,
   strategic plans
   Discourse,
   meaning making,
   culture, norms
   Chaos, self-
   organization,
   emergent design
   Change
   Emphasis
   Fix & Re-
   engineer
   Adapt & Re-
   position
   Reframe &
   Rename
   Flux & Emergent
   Facilitation
   

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6. Traditional OD Contemporary OD Emerging OD
   General Approach
   to Change
   Change as a scientific
   process
   Change as a
   discursive process
   Change as a political
   process
   Disciplinary Area
   & Epistemology
   Socio-psychological -
   positivist
   Socio-linguistic –
   constructivist
   Socio-political -
   critical realist
   Focus of Change Negative - Emphasis on
   problems
   Positive - Emphasis on
   improvement
   Neutral - Emphasis on
   possibilities
   Process
   Characteristics
   Reactive, linear and
   punctuated
   Proactive, recursive
   and fluid
   Emergent, rhizomatic
   and spontaneous
   Temporal
   Orientation
   Focus on the past to act
   in the present
   Focus on the future to
   act in the present
   Focus on the present
   to act in the present
   Environmental
   Imperatives
   Relatively stable and
   predictable world
   Competitive and
   rapidly changing world
   Turbulent and socially
   connected world
   Hierarchical
   Ordering
   Top-down (mgt instigate
   & execute)
   Top-down & sideways
   (mgt/emp execution)
   Bottom-up (emp
   instigated)
   Employee Focus Employee performance
   and job enrichment
   Employee involvement
   and empowerment
   Employee engagement
   and emancipation
   Change Logic Change of/for
   employees
   Change with
   employees
   Change by
   employees
   Examples Job Design, Teamwork,
   & Structural Intervention
   AI, Future Search, &
   World Cafe
   Employee Activism &
   Constructive Deviance
   

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7. ■ Generational shifts
   ■ Digital Transformation and Connectedness
   Why Now?
   

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8. www.cass.city.ac.uk
   Managing Millennials and Generation Z
   Andrew Davidson observes:
   “For traditional employers, Millennials pose new
   problems. Command-and-control is out. Having
   grown up with constant feedback from parents and
   teachers, they want dialogue, not orders, and a
   world of work that offers more opportunity and less
   hierarchy, and always new ways of doing things.”
   Davidson, A. (2014) “How millennial are you?”, Business Life, May,
   pp.18-21.
   

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9. So, what can we do?
   ■ Open Space Technology
   ■ Appreciative Inquiry
   ■ World Café
   ■ Future Search
   ■ Corporate Hackathons
   ■ Collaboration Platforms
   ■ Hotspot Engagement
   ■ Internal Crowdsourcing
   ■ Employee Activism
   ■ Reciprocity Rings
   ■ Continuous & Fluid Dialogic Activity
   

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10. And, where’s the evidence?
    ■ “Towards Ritualised Autonomy” – Atlassian
    ■ “Beyond 360 Feedback and Appraisals” - BetterWorks
    ■ “The Creation of Flatland” – Valve
    ■ “Doing Holacracy” – Zappos
    ■ “Arrivals Hacking” – British Airways
    ■ “Blurred Crowdsourcing” – Agora
    ■ “Reciprocity Rings” – Headhunters Inc.
    ■ “New Horizon Radicals” – NHS
    

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11. BetterWorks
    Transparent and interwoven goals:
    ■ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxODhdOTneE
    

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12. NHS Example
    “The Horizons Group is a small team operating at the
    edge of current thinking and practice of change and
    transformation in health and care. Its remit is about
    sharing the disruptive power of connecting to influence
    change, leading edge knowledge, transformation and
    innovation. The aim is to support colleagues in health
    and care to think differently about the ‘rules of change’
    and make sense of it in their own context, leading to
    effective change practice and better outcomes for
    patients” (Bevan & Fairman, 2014:36).
    

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14. Innovation, Management and Change
    Dominant Approach Emerging Direction
    Power through hierarchy Power through connection
    Mission and vision Shared purpose
    Making sense through Making sense through
    rationale argument emotional connection
    Leadership-driven (top Viral (grass-roots
    down) innovation driven) creativity
    Tried and tested, based ‘Open’ approaches, sharing ideas
    on experience and data, co-creating change
    Transactions Relationships
    

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17. The Toyota Experience
    “Globally known for their systematic processes, Toyota might
    be the last company where you'd expect to find autonomy at
    play among factory workers. Instead, Toyota's leaders created a
    system that gives frontline workers the autonomy to solve
    problems, design their own tools, and create or revise
    processes. Supervisors are there to provide support, not
    answers” (Ludema, 2016).
    “Toyota is a lot like jazz musicians: the players are taught to
    improvise. A framework is provided, but the sheet music
    is not” (Barratt, 2015).
    Barratt (2015) suggests: “Creating a company where
    improvisation can happen is not easy. It requires a unique tool
    set that includes capacity for experimentation, rapid
    information processing, disrupting routines, and maximizing
    autonomy”.
    

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18. Thank You
    

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